Health messiah

A retired police officer shows how dharmshalas at government hospitals can be turned around.

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ROHIT PARIHAR

April 9, 2010

ISSUE DATE: April 19, 2010

UPDATED: April 16, 2010 21:41 IST

Nobody likes to fall ill. For the less advantaged in India, it's nothing short of a nightmare that only gets worse for those who must stay in a hospital dharmshala. One man, however, has taken upon himself to change this, at least for a few. In 2002, Bharat Singh Sisodia, a President's Medal-winning police officer at Banswara, Rajasthan, fought against a proposal to convert an abandoned government dharmshala into an office. The district authorities relented once he convinced them that he would generate funds for a well furnished facility. Built, and now expanded, mainly by donations at Mahatma Gandhi Hospital, the dharmshala today even provides free meals to its 700-odd boarders.

The Vagad Seva Sansthan Trust set up by Sisodia to run the dharmshalas has 175 trustees and 700 members from different castes and religions. It provides cheap medicines by passing on the commissions paid by drug companies. It also runs a medicine bank that gives free medicines to the needy and pays for emergency operations for those who can't pay. In 2003, Sisodia retired and shifted to Udaipur. He found a similar story there in the government-run dharmshalas attached to hospitals. In 2006, the trust took over the dharmshala in Maharana Bhhupal Hospital, Udaipur, furnishing it and providing bedding and kitchen for fresh cooked food. The trust runs five such dharmshalas, spending Rs 70 lakh every year.

Ratni Gauri of Chittorgarh, whose six-year-old son is admitted in Udaipur, finds it a blessing. Jamuna Bai, who is here for her mother-in-law's treatment, feels grateful for the small grocery shop on the premises. In Udaipur, some facilities are free while others are nominally priced, like Rs 50 a room, equipped with bedding, iron, television and newspapers. In 2008, the trust took over a dharmshala in Dungarpur, where it also provides free rations. It was also instrumental in improving the surroundings. In Udaipur, a huge garbage dump next to senior residents' hostel was converted into a garden. The trust also holds regular deaddiction camps. It plans to provide medicines on a non-profit basis in Udaipur.

Sisodia has been able to take many along his way. Brigadier (Retd) Vijay Saxena made a huge donation in his wife's memory and joined the trust actively. Says Saxena: "The vast resources of retired personnel can be used to create such unsung heroes." And he knows just how.

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